Former Hull NHS boss jumped to his death
EX-CHIEF EXECUTIVE WAS FACING NUMEROUS FRAUD CHARGES
A FORMER Hull NHS boss who was facing numerous fraud charges died after jumping off a cliff.
An inquest into the death of Phil Morley, who was chief executive of Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust until his resignation in April 2014, was held yesterday.
It was revealed Mr Morley was found dead at the bottom of Beachy Head, in East Sussex, in May, just days before the 53-year-old was due in court.
Assistant coroner Catharine Palmer recorded a verdict of suicide and said she was satisfied Mr Morley intended to take his own life, the BBC reports.
Mr Morley had been due to appear at Hull Magistrates’ Court charged with four counts of fraud during his time as chief executive of Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust.
His death came four weeks before he was due in court on June 8. The Crown Prosecution Service said he faced one count of conspiracy to commit false accounting, two counts of fraud by abuse of position and one count of false accounting.
The inquest, held in Eastbourne, heard Mr Morley was seen to jump from the cliff top in Sussex.
The father-of-two left notes in a hotel room he booked in Eastbourne. He also used his bank card to pay for a meal in the Beachy Head Hotel on the night he died.
Ms Palmer said Mr Morley had faced pressures in his private life and had also been treated for depression in the months before his death.
The cause of death was given as multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height.
Mr Morley’s family solicitor, Stephanie Roe, said: “The family is absolutely devastated.
“He was loved and is greatly missed.”
Mr Morley, who was in charge of Hull’s NHS Trust for four years, was charged alongside his former chief nurse, Amanda Pye.
She was charged with conspiracy to commit false accounting, but the CPS decided to drop it following a review in June.
Mr Morley left Hull citing “personal reasons” just before a report was published by conciliation service Acas, which claimed there was a bullying culture at the trust.
He subsequently became chief executive of The Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, in Harlow, Essex, which went into special measures in 2016 after being rated “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission.
He retired from that position last year ending a 35-year career in the NHS and went on to set up a firm called Head Hearts and Hands, offering management consultancy services.
“The family is devastated. He is greatly missed Solicitor Stephanie Roe